Synchronizing computing devices, for example a desktop computer and a mobile computing device (e.g. a PDA) has become commonplace as people have become used to portability of information. Synchronization generally depends on at least one of the computing devices, for example the desktop computer, storing configuration files which contain data indicative of how to perform the synchronization. For example, the desktop computer may contain a multimedia application that contains playlists of songs/videos/photos/podcasts etc., that can be synchronized with the mobile device, such that the playlists/songs/videos etc. are the same at both computing devices. Presuming the playlists etc., at the desktop computer have been updated between synchronizations, at the next synchronization the updated playlists/songs/videos/photos/podcasts etc. are downloaded to the mobile device. The configuration files can instruct a synchronization application of which playlists to update during synchronization.
However, a mobile device, by its nature, may only be in use for a short time relative to a desktop computer. Old configuration files associated with mobile devices no longer in use, and stored at the desktop computer, waste system resources by both cluttering the memory of the desktop computer, and causing the desktop computer to waste processing time by sorting through all the configuration files in the memory to find the one(s) it needs to effect a synchronization for a mobile device currently in use.